{Recipe} Wholemeal Spelt and Chia Pancakes
May 6, 2013 23 Comments
In my household, breakfast pancakes are whipped up on birthday mornings, usually by Mat (unless it is his birthday). The birthday boy or birthday girl is served first, and the rest of the family members gaze on greedily as the pancake is topped with fruit and drizzled with pure maple syrup.
A chorus: Hurry up daddy! Where’s mine? Is mine ready yet? Patience and manners are the first casualties of pancake mornings.
Sometimes a double batch is prepared, and pancakes make a welcome appearance in school lunchboxes for a day or two. Pancakes also feature on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Sometimes they make an appearance on lazy Sunday mornings.
Our preferred pancake recipe is Banana Oat Pancakes. This recipes uses oats and wholewheat flour, bananas and walnuts. It is nutritious and tasty.
I wanted to prepare a wheat-free pancake that maintained the nutrition and taste aspects of our favourite pancake recipe.
I referred to a few cook books, and was ultimately inspired by Dreena Burton’s Whole-Grain Chia Pancakes (in Let Them Eat Vegan).
Consequently, Wholemeal Spelt and Chia Pancakes were born (whisked?😉 ).
These pancakes are wheat free, sugar free, and oil free. Apple sauce is used as a sweetener. They are packed with chia seeds, providing essential fatty acids and a pleasant popping sensation as you munch on your pancake.
The kids haven’t had to wait until their birthdays for these pancakes! I’ve made them at least four times in the past fortnight. Maybe someone will make them for me on Mother’s Day on Sunday😉
Ingredients
(Quantity: 13- 14 pancakes)
1 3/4 cups wholemeal spelt flour
2 Tbsp whole chia seeds ( white or black, or a combination)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 generous tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp of flaked almonds OR chopped nuts (eg. walnuts, pecans)
2 cups protein-enriched rice milk (or other plant-based milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp apple sauce (unsweetened)
Method
1. Add all of the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. Whisk the rice milk, vanilla extract, and apple sauce together in a small mixing bowl.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir well. Set the bowl aside as you prepare the fry pan (skillet). The batter will thicken a little during this time.
4. Optional: Smear the surface of a fry pan or skillet with a small amount of coconut oil. You can skip this step if you use non-stick cookware.
5. Heat the fry pan, then use a 1/4 metric cup to scoop the batter onto the fry pan. Cook each pancake until bubbles appear on the surface, then gently flip and cook for about a minute on the other side.
6. The batter will continue to thicken in the bowl as you are cooking the pancakes. Add additional rice milk to thin it out again. (I usually add an additional tablespoon of rice milk after making the 5th pancake.)
7. Serve pancakes with sliced banana, berries (frozen or fresh), and pure maple syrup. My four year old son enjoys his pancake smeared with apple sauce.
***
When making pancakes for the kids’ lunch boxes, I use a metric tablespoon to measure out the batter. This also makes a good toddler-sized pancake.
I am excited about participating in my first Virtual Vegan Potluck this weekend! The potluck will go live on Saturday at 12.01 am Eastern time in the USA (Saturday afternoon in Australia and NZ). About 150 blogs are participating! I’m bringing a main dish to the potluck.
What vegan meals do you like to take to potlucks?
Ally
* Due to the time that I will be dedicating to the VVP, I won’t be posting a recipe next Monday.
[edited on 7 May to update VVP info]
About Ally
Hi great recipe using spelt and chia… looks very yummy !!
Thanks Thomas!
I am always on the lookout for ways to get more chia seeds into our diet.
Good idea. Shame the are so expensive though. I am drinking juice all this week instead of having any solid food. Every morning I drink a juice with Spirulina and wheatgrass. They both are also wonderful nutrients which are giving me a boost of energy which I am using up running lol.😉 enjoy your day
Oh that sounds great! Good on you!
I have spirulina in my smoothies, but haven’t tried adding wheatgrass. I’ve had wheatgrass shots.
You will be positively buzzing!
Are you in the Virtual Vegan Potluck? I can’t remember if I saw your blog in the list.
Hi that;s cool
Never used spirulina and wheatgrass before
I did the last Virtual Vegan Potluck last time, bu this time I am not doing it. I know a few people who are doing it so looking forward to seeing the recipes
Good Luck !!!
Thanks! I’m looking forward to seeing all the recipes too. So many recipes, so little time! I’ll just end up with a massive list of recipes that I want to make!
I have made my recipe- I’m doing a main meal.
Thais great I will definitely look out for your recipe I know it will be very yummy like all of your recipes that you post
.
Oh you are very kind! Thanks Thomas.
Chia seeds in a pancake? Brilliant! These sound delicious, and wholesome.
They are really yummy. Mat is a big fan!
Yummo! I am excited about participating in TVVP as well for the very first time
. I can’t wait to see what the other participants have come up with…Alex Willow Harvey is going to throw us all a doozy I can tell
. Can’t wait to see your recipe either
I have no doubt that Alex will blow us all away!
What category are you in?
Main Course, what category are you in? I am just in awe of all of the wonderful vegan food bloggers entering this year. I could care less where I place, I just want to take part
.
I’m in Mains as well
I’m very excited too.
Once the kids are in bed Saturday night, I’m going to start at the beginning and eat my way through to the end!
I have no doubt that I will bookmark quite a few (dozen) recipes, and subscribe to more great blogs.
I love banana pancakes! I hope one day I’ll be as great as you are in the kitchen
Oh that is sweet of you to say!
It’s not always great though, haha!
Pancakes are the perfect breakfast treat for a birthday!! These look delicious!! Blueberries and bananas were MADE for pancakes! I can’t wait for the VVP, it’s always so much fun!
Thanks Britt! I look forward to seeing you in a few hours at the potluck. I’m excited!
Hm, chia seeds must be in the air! I’m catching up a bit on my favourite blogs, and I just finished reading about these little guys on Appetite Affliction! These pancakes look amazing. And I love the lunchbox shot. Now I want pancakes in MY lunch. Happiest little lunch ever
I made these beauties & I loved every bit of them, so did my husband Peter!
xxx
Oh I am so happy to hear that both you and Peter enjoyed them! Thanks for letting me know
yeah!
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